The Latest On Those New Marco Polo Hunts

Published: August - 1998

This past September, in my roundup of Marco Polo sheep hunting opportunities (see September 1997 issue, pages 2-6), I mentioned the fact that two hunters were going into western China on Marco Polo hunts. Their hunts were arranged by Gretchen Stark of Safari Outfitters with a firm, up-front understanding that their hunts were exploratory. As such, they might be wonderful experiences that produced great trophies, or they might be disasters. They were apprised of the fact that the Chinese were novices at the business of organizing Marco Polo hunts and that in any event the one hunter who was an American would not be able to bring his trophy back into the United States. Turns out both hunters took sheep, but at present there does not appear to be any good reason to choose China in preference to the other, more established Marco Polo countries, namely, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

In the first place, China, at just over $28,000, is more expensive than Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan. What's more, the higher price is being charged for a crack at a trophy that there is no immediate prospect for Americans being able to import, though Europeans, Mexicans and possibly other nationals can. Even if imports are legalized, Tajikistan appears to produce bigger trophies, and Kyrgyzstan has more comfortable camps, more experienced guides and a higher standard of outfitting, with trophies of at least the same quality as China, if not better. The two hunters who went to China this past October, one American and one Mexican, took sheep measuring 48 and 51 inches respectively. The smaller sheep was wounded and not found until three days later.

At press time, we could not reach either of these hunters, but word reaching us is there were significant problems on these hunts, which resulted in lost hunting days. To be sure, the problems on the hunt were mostly due to inexperience and, with time, will probably be cleared up. As for trophy size, there is considerable anecdotal evidence that bigger sheep - perhaps much bigger than those taken last winter - occur on the........(continued)